I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS.

Chapter 17

"Go, Go, Gryffindor! Go, Go, Gryffindor!"

Every student clad in scarlet and gold had been chanting that phrase since the Quidditch game started. It was amazing how the Gryffindors refused to allow the dismal weather ruin their spirits, honestly. The rain was pouring down in icy sheets, the wind was howling against them, occasionally physically moving a few of them, and the thunder and lightning nearly deafened and blinded them in turn.

But today was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Wood had been going on and on about it every chance he saw Harry, because apparently, Hufflepuff's Seeker and Captain, Cedric Diggory, was extremely talented – almost as talented as Harry. Neville had grumbled when she brought up his name, but Devyn had been hard pressed to figure out why, until Hermione pointed out that most of the Gryffindor girls had been going through fits of giggling whenever Cedric's name was said, because he was, according to Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, "tall, good-looking, strong and silent".

Devyn sincerely wished that Neville would get it through his head that her interest in Diggory was as Harry's adversary, and that was the end of it. But, in order to put Neville's mind at ease, she didn't bring Cedric's name up around him.

That tactic seemed to work because in the days approaching the game, Neville was relaxed and cheerful. And then the game day arrived, and everyone's stress levels skyrocketed. They all wanted to see Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff, as it would strengthen their chances of winning the Quidditch Cup, but Devyn was also concerned about Harry's safety. The weather conditions were definitely less than stellar, and Harry's small stature was causing him to be pushed around, whereas Diggory was heavier, and therefore he had a more stable center of balance on his broom. Normally, Seekers would need to be light and agile, which would have given Harry the edge, but in these conditions, Cedric had the advantage because the wind wasn't able to move him around as much.

"Whoo!" Hermione cheered as a few of the players flew by her. "Go Harry! Whoo!"

Harry had swerve out of the way and perform a barrel roll just to avoid one of his teammates as her broom was struck by lightning and she fell from the sky, screaming. She grabbed onto Neville's hand when this happened and she felt him squeeze her hand reassuringly.

She saw Harry zoom past the teacher's column and up into the sky, presumably following the Snitch and Diggory, who had been following it persistently. Harry's new course of movement caused Devyn's heart to take up new residence in her throat because once he disappeared into the fog…well, she wouldn't be able to pierce through the veil that had now shrouded Harry….unless…

He flew higher and higher, and Devyn's panic forced her to let her eyesight go into wolf mode and, once again, the familiar awareness took over. She allowed all sound to vanish, letting her eyes take over completely. She looked around and found that she could now see across the stadium, and saw quite clearly the strong concern and fear written on McGonagall's face.

All around her, she saw her fellow classmates bellowing out cheers, but she couldn't hear them. She turned her eyes skyward and searched carefully for Harry.

There!

She had spotted him at last. He was following Cedric (who was following the Snitch) in a steep climb. Cedric was much closer to the Snitch than Harry was, and when he reached out for it…that very second, a lightning bolt struck the Snitch and it was channeled through the small ball to Cedric's fingers and the electricity ripped through his body, paralyzing his movements and making his hair stand on end.

The jolt of electricity to his system must have caused his hand to lock onto the handle of his broom because even as he tumbled through the sky, down to earth, Cedric's hand never left his broom.

Luckily, the shock wore off and Cedric resumed playing. Devyn thought that was quite the testimony to his dedication and strength, but she had more important things to focus on right now. Her eyes shot back to Harry but not before Neville looked over and saw her eyes glowing green.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her. Devyn only heard his question because she allowed a tiny bit of sound to trickle back into her consciousness. "Someone could see you!"

"I know, but I need to be able to see Harry. I just want to know he's safe, Neville. And besides, everyone's watching the game. No one's paying attention to me, aside from you, and even if they were, they wouldn't be able to see my eyes unless they were as close to me as you. Don't worry."

Neville sighed and reluctantly turned his attention back to the game. Devyn squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. That small gesture had become their way of saying, Don't worry. Everything will be okay.

Devyn once again cancelled out all noise and look at Harry, who had turned and stalled to watch Cedric fall. Once he saw that Cedric was okay, however, he went to start flying again…but a large crack of thunder and an enormous illumination of lightning stopped him.

He looked at the clouds, fear written all over his face, and Devyn wished desperately she could see what he saw, but that wish vanished as quickly as it came because the Snitch made a reappearance, right in front of Harry, but sped off before Harry could catch it, propelling her friend back into the chase.

Harry reared his broom around and took off, speeding back up into the sky. Devyn's sight of him was getting blurry. If he went any higher, she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep watching him anymore. She pushed her eyes to keep going, focusing all her energy on her eyesight, praying that her eyes would hold out long enough that she could see Harry get back to the ground safely.

But no sooner did her mind form that prayer that it turned into a severe doubt. It had just gotten about ten degrees colder, but she didn't realize what was happening until a vision of the Basilisk flashed before her eyes.

Dementors. They're here, she thought. She started shivering and moved closer to Neville, trying to get warm. It seemed as though she was the only one in the stands being affected by it, but that might have been due to the fact that her senses were enhanced at the moment.

She forced herself to fight the mind-numbing cold she felt and looked back up at Harry, who was still going after the Snitch, although he seemed to be shivering just as much as she was. A stray umbrella whipped past Harry and he took his eyes of the Snitch for just a second, and that's when Devyn saw the first of them.

The first large, cloaked, wretched creature that caused anyone they came into contact with to relive their worst memories. The first Dementor. It glided right past Harry, but he didn't look around in time to see it. He faced the right way around again and searched for the Snitch, but it was gone. That, however, was the least of Devyn's concerns; she saw another Dementor, this one flying behind Harry.

Harry looked around and over his shoulder and when he saw the Dementor, he pressed his body close to his broom and flew harder than Devyn had ever seen him fly. The Dementor behind him persisted and suddenly one of the appeared in front of him. Harry had no choice but to swerve down and to the right. He zoomed up, higher and higher, and then stopped, allowing himself to fall for only a second, just long enough for him to get into a nose dive position, as he hurtled past the two Dementors.

Devyn held out hope that he had actually escaped them and would make it back down to the stadium, where Dumbledore (at the very least) would be able to get rid of them. She held out that hope as long as she could – which was until she saw four other Dementors swarming in front of Harry. One of them got right up close and started sucking something (his happier memories, perhaps) from him.

Devyn seized up in terror as she watched, helpless, as one of her best friends fell from his broom, and started plunging at breakneck speed back to the Quidditch pitch, most definitely unconscious.

At the same exact time, Cedric caught the Snitch and the game ended, but Devyn couldn't care less. She just wanted Harry to be safe.

It wasn't until he was about 50 feet from the ground that everyone else saw Harry falling and suddenly Dumbledore stood up, raised his hand and said, "ARESTO MOMENTUM!"

Harry's descent slowed almost to a complete stop, and Dumbledore lowered him down to the ground gently. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey all raced down to the pitch, as did Ron, Hermione, Devyn and Neville. They all reached him at the same time, as did Fred, George, Angelina, and Katie.

Madam Pomfrey demanded that they keep back from Harry, and while they did move to allow her to get him onto a stretcher, they refused to leave his side.

"Does anyone know what happened?" Dumbledore asked urgently. Devyn stepped forward and nodded.

She pointed to the sky and said, "Dementors, Professor. They attacked him."

Dumbledore looked up and saw the swarm of Dementors circling above them like vultures. He once again raised his arm, this time with his wand in hand, and shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Devyn recognized the charm, as Moony had told her about it before, and watched in awe as a silver phoenix erupted from Dumbledore's wand and dispelled the Dementors from their sight.

"How on earth did you know it was Dementors, Ms. Murphy?" McGonagall asked her, a stunned expression on her face.

Everyone's eyes shifted to her, although Hermione, Ron, and Neville all knew how she knew, and she had to think fast to come up with an excuse.

"Harry never would have fallen from his broom otherwise, Professor. He's too good a player for that."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but allowed the explanation to pass.

"We need to get Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing, now!" Madam Pomfrey said impatiently.

"Oh, yes, of course," Dumbledore said, anger and fury darkening his expression. Devyn thought a certain Ministry official would be hearing it from their Headmaster very shortly. "You children go with Mr. Potter. Professor McGonagall, if you'll come with me." McGonagall nodded tersely and everyone dashed off in their separate ways.

As Devyn looked down at Harry's paper white face, she prayed to anyone and anything that might listen that Harry would be alright. She also needed to talk to Moony about teaching her the Patronus Charm, so she would be able to defend herself against the Dementors, should they ever show their horrid faces again.

Please be alright, Harry. Please, she thought. As they walked off, she felt Neville take hold of her hand and squeeze gently. She looked at Neville, who looked as though he had just climbed out of a swimming pool, and smiled sadly. He nodded and intertwined their fingers as they followed Madam Pomfrey and the floating stretcher that carried Harry to the Hospital Wing.

One look from Neville said it all.

Everything will be okay.